The Corpus of Hittite Divinatory Texts (HDivT)

Digital Edition and Cultural Historical Analysis

Andrea Trameri (Hrsg.)

Citatio: Andrea Trameri (Hrsg.), hethiter.net/: CTH 573.15 (INTR 2025-08-07)


CTH 573.15

Bird oracle reports by [Nun]u and Maraššanda

introductio



Kurzbeschreibung

This fragment of a thick clay tablet preserves only about half of a column of text, which makes it difficult to understand the oracle questions and the reports of bird flights.

We can thus read only small portions of a series of bird oracles about various topics. Two entries preserve the name of the augurs responsible for the observation: [Nun]u and Maraššanda (rev. 11´), and Maraššanda alone (rev. 17´). Possibly, they were the authors of the other entries as well.

Texte

Exemplar AKBo 43.58610/fBk. C

Literaturauszug aus der Konkordanz

  • Y. Sakuma, Diss., 2009: II 489-493

Inhaltsübersicht

Abschnitt 1ID=1obv. §1´. Bird oracle (fragmentary)
Abschnitt 2ID=2obv. §2´. Bird oracle
Abschnitt 3ID=3obv. §3´. Brief bird oracle
Abschnitt 4ID=4obv. §4´. Brief statement/oracle introduction: about “the month”
Abschnitt 5ID=5obv. §5´. Bird oracle
Abschnitt 6ID=6obv. §6´. Brief bird oracle/addendum to oracle
Abschnitt 7ID=7obv. §7´. Oracle introduction: about “His Majesty” (fragmentary)
Abschnitt 8ID=8rev. §8´. (lost)
Abschnitt 9ID=9rev. §9´. Bird oracle by [Nun]u and Maraššanda: a deity is in anger
Abschnitt 10ID=10rev. §10´. Bird oracle by Maraššanda about “a mina of gold”
Abschnitt 11ID=11rev. §11´. Bird oracle: new inquiry(?), mentioning Ḫattuša

History of publication

Handcopy: H. Otten (KBo 43, Otten H. – Rüster C. 2002a).

Edition: Sakuma Y. 2009b, II, 489-493.

Palaeography and handwriting

NS (jh.); diagnostic signs ḪA (not LNS/IIIc), ḪAR, IT, KI (not LNS/IIIc), TAR. KÙ fragmentary (rev. 12´), probably early form.

Linguistic characteristics

A poorly preserved oracular question in this fragment seems to introduce both possible outcomes through two hypothetic sentences (obv. 6´-10´), the positive outcome “[If …] let the birds confirm it”, and the negative one “[but if …] let the birds exclude it”. Typically, the questions are synthetic and only provide one of them, the ‘desired’ outcome – whether it is the ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ depends on the nature of the question asked. Possibly, a similar structure can be restored in rev. 18´-25´, although this passage is even more fragmentary.

Editio ultima: 2025-08-07